1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reel onto which recording tape such as magnetic tape is wound and to a recording tape cartridge disposed with the reel.
2. Description of the Related Art
As external storage media for computers and the like, recording tape cartridges are known which house a reel wound with magnetic tape inside a case. The reel includes a hub, which configures the axial center portion of the recording tape cartridge and on whose outer periphery the magnetic tape is wound, and an upper flange and a lower flange, which protrude outward in the radial direction from both axial line-direction ends of the hub.
Recording tape cartridges are also known where recording tape such as magnetic tape is wound onto a single reel and which rotatably house the reel inside a case made of synthetic resin. A leader member, such as a leader pin, a leader tape, or a leader block, is disposed on the leading end of the recording tape. Pullout means disposed in a drive device pull out the leader member through an opening in the recording tape cartridge, and the recording tape fixed to the leader member is wound onto a take-up reel of the drive device.
In the reels of such recording tape cartridges, the recording tape is ordinarily wound onto the outer peripheral surface of the hub. The upper flange and the lower flange are disposed above and below the hub, and the position of the recording tape in the vertical direction when the recording tape is wound is regulated by the upper and lower flanges, whereby the recording tape is retained such that the winding is good, the traveling stability of the recording tape is improved, and damage to the recording tape from the outside is prevented when the recording tape is not in use.
However, because the hub is molded with resin, sometimes, as shown in FIG. 6, the substantially central portion of a hub 100 becomes bent inward due to constriction caused by the recording tape being tightly wound onto the hub 100. Additionally, in accompaniment therewith, the distance between an upper flange 102 and a lower flange 104 disposed on both end portions of the hub 100 gradually becomes narrower toward the outer peripheries of the upper flange 102 and the lower flange 104, and there is the potential for the edge portions of the recording tape (not shown) to sustain damage.
For this reason, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) Nos. 2004-14022 and 2004-14023, a configuration that reinforces the hub with a metallic ring-like member in order to prevent deformation of the hub is conceivable, but the manufacturing cost ends up increasing.